Sharron Angle Re: Abortion

“Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle (http://www.sharronangle.com, insertion mine) has moderated a host of policy positions in her transition from a primary candidate to general election contender battling Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. One thing she has not backed away from has been her insistence that abortion should be outlawed universally, even in cases of rape and incest.

“In a radio interview Angle did in late June, the Tea Party favorite re-affirmed her pro-life sensibilities (rigid, as they are, even within Republican circles), when she insisted that a young girl raped by her father should know that ‘two wrongs don’t make a right.’ Much good can come from a horrific situation like that, Angle added. Lemons can be made into lemonade.

“…Angle: …My own personal feelings and that is always what I express, my personal feeling is that we need to err on the side of life. There is a plan and a purpose, a value to every life no matter what it’s location, age, gender or disability. So whenever we talk about government and government’s role, government’s role is to protect life and that’s what our Founding Fathers said, that we have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

“…The Nevada Republican earlier discussed her beliefs on the topic during an interview with the Bill Manders in which she called pregnancy in cases of rape and incest, ‘God’s plan.’”

Let me ask “The Huffington Post” and Sharron’s other opponents: Why are you obsessed with rape and incest abortions, which account for only 1% (some data indicate much less than that) of all abortions?

“…In their new book, Victims and Victors (Acorn Books, 2000), editors David Reardon, Amy Sobie and Julie Makimaa draw on testimonies of 192 women who experienced pregnancy as the result of rape or incest, and 55 children who were conceived through sexual assault. It turns out that when victims of violence speak for themselves, their opinion of abortion is nearly unanimous-and the opposite of what the average person expects.

“Nearly all the women interviewed in this anecdotal survey said they regretted aborting the babies conceived via rape or incest. Of those giving an opinion, more than 90 percent said they would discourage other victims of sexual violence from having an abortion.

“On the other hand, among the women profiled in the book who conceived due to rape or incest and carried to term, not one expressed regret about her choice. Of those giving an opinion, 94 percent of rape victims and 100 percent of incest victims said abortion was not a good option for other women in their situation.”

Further, from afterabortion.org, “approximately 70 percent of all women believe abortion is immoral, even though many also feel it should be a legal choice for others. Approximately the same percentage of pregnant rape victims believe abortion would be just another act of violence perpetrated against their bodies and their children (emphasis mine).” Indeed, some women report still suffering over the loss of their unborn aborted baby long after the trauma of the rape has healed.

Is it the child’s fault that he or she was conceived via rape or incest? Shall the innocent die because an evil and violent man committed a crime? Delivering and loving a baby that was conceived this painful way can do much to heal a woman’s pain, while the memory of adding violence on top of violence can make healing much more difficult, since guilt is involved.

Good for Sharron Angle for standing her ground as a true statesman and refusing to backtrack on such a pivotal issue.